Skip to content

kapitan

kapítan with stress marks

to hold on to [it]

verb ka-PI-tan OF VERB Native origin Rare

From root: kapit

Conjugations

Past (Completed)

kinapitan

ki-na-PI-tan

held on to

Present (Incomplete)

kinakapitan

ki-na-ka-PI-tan

is being held on to

Future (Contemplated)

kakapitan

ka-ka-PI-tan

will be held on to

Usage Note

Kapitan is the object-focus -an form of kapit, used when the thing being held onto is the grammatical focus. The -an suffix marks the surface or object as the location of the grip, which is why it takes this form rather than the -in form.

Examples

Beginner

" Kapitan mo ang lubid. "

Natural Translation

Hold on to the rope.

Literal Translation

Hold-on you the rope.

Intermediate

" Dapat mo na kapitan ang hawakan ng hagdan. "

Natural Translation

You should hold on to the stair handrail.

Literal Translation

Should you to hold on to the handrail of stairs.

Advanced

" Kapitan mo nang mahigpit ang gabay habang umaakyat tayo sa matarik na bundok. "

Natural Translation

Hold on tightly to the rail while we climb the steep mountain.

Literal Translation

Hold-on you tightly the rail while climbing we on steep mountain.

Free · iOS & Android

Take Tagalog with you

The full course, a 12,500-word dictionary, and flashcards that make every word stick — free to start on iOS and Android.

Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.

How Tagalog words work

Word family

kapit has 1 related form built from the same root.

See all

Explore Tagalog by topic

Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.